Rivera Shows TSMMA Non-Quitting Spirit

You can’t see what someones really made of until they are put in a bad situation. Well we found out exactly what Jimmie Rivera is made of Saturday night at World Series of Fighting 5.

“El Terror” was shooting for his twelfth straight win after a loss in his second pro fight. That loss was a close fight and came fifteen pounds north of his current Bantamweight division. There he is undefeated and boasts a King of the Cage Title.

Saturday at Revel in Atlantic City he took his first step towards a World Series of Fighting Belt. He was set to face Sidemar Honorio. The Renzo Gracie fighter brought an 8-3 record, which may undersell his talent level.

Awkward in the standup and boasting Gracie Jiu Jitsu he came in feeling armed to stand with the Tiger Schulmann’s fighter and expected to dominate the ground.

He would be sadly mistaken.

Early in the fight Rivera established his control of the ring, forcing Honorio to constantly retreat and throwing power shots. Honorio wasn’t going away easy though and clipped Rivera with a counter right hand on one exchange.

Clearly stunned, Rivera immediately clutched for a double. Honorio countered and landed a number of shots as Rivera was on his back trying to establish guard.

Despite referee Dan Miragliota taking a close look, Rivera was ok and worked his way back up to his feet. He proceeded to dominate the next thirteen minutes.

As soon as Rivera got back to standup he reestablished control of the ring and didn’t allow his opponent another chance.

After a few successful combinations Rivera transitioned smoothly to a double leg and proceeded to disabuse Honorio of his belief in his grappling advantage. Rivera continually established dominant positions eventually settling on the turtled Honorios hip while landing a series of hammerfists and elbows.

Rivera was content to keep the second round standing. He dominated the cage for five straight minutes. Forcing Honorio backwards constantly he avoided any damaging shots while continuing to deal his own on the Gracie fighter. The round was highlighted by a beautiful left hook that staggered Honorio. Just for good measure Rivera threw in a textbook double leg to finish things off.

The third was more dominance from Rivera as he again took Honorio down and settled on his hip. On the feet he continued to dominate. Now mixing in some good body work to go along with stinging low kicks that one time put Honorio down.

All in all it was the most impressive of Rivera’s 13 victories. Even his title winning tilt against Colin Tebow didn’t force Rivera to show the come back ability “El Terror” showed tonight.

It was a great opportunity in the up and coming World Series of Fighting promotion for the 24 year old Manhattan TSMMA instructor. He sure took advantage of it.

His performance had former World Champion and MMA legend Bas Rutten raving about his skills and left this writer and all his other fans looking forward to his next fight.